Device for dry separating cut sugar cane



Dec. 19, 1967 R. A. DUNCAN DEVICE FOR DRY SEPARATING CUT SUGAR CANE 5Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 9, 1964 INVENTOR. auto ,4. Dun c4 Dec. 19;1967 R. A. DUNCAN DEVICE FOR DRY SEPARATING CUT SUGAR CANE 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 9, 1964 I N V E N TOR 4 /6/1420 4.0u/vaw ZZZ 44% [frat/VI Dec, 19, 1967 R. A. DUNCAN DEVICE FOR DRY SEPARATING CUTSUGAR CANE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 9, 1964 I N NTOR. 90/420 AZfiu/vaw IrraeA IK;

United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus used in asugar cane field for transloading and dry-separating cut sugar fromunwanted attendant material.

My invention relates to means primarily useful in garnering sugar canefrom a field and transporting the sugar cane to a carrying vehicle whileseparating the desired cane from undesired debris, earth and trash madeup of leaf trash and tops.

The invention particularly relates to mechanism for use either in apermanently installed form or in a portable form for eifectuating a dryseparation of the desired millable sugar cane from naturallyaccompanying materials under widely varying operating conditions anddespite considerable variation in the wetness or dryness of thematerials themselves.

The object is to provide a combination of principles and design to dryclean sugar cane.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sugar cane handlingdevice which can be installed in a fixed location or can be arranged foreasy transportion in a sugar cane field to receive the cane in its fieldcut condition and to carry the cane without extraneous material fordischarge into a receiving container.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sugar cane handlingdevice which can handle the material precisely as it is found in thefield, yet can operate without interference from earth, debris, trash,and the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sugar cane handlingdevice which is effective to move large quantities of sugar cane andaccompanying material from its loading point to its discharging pointand in an even fashion despite irregular loading.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sugar cane handlingdevice in which the various driven instrumentalities are arranged so asnot to become engaged with or entangled by trash of various sorts.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sugar cane handlingdevice which not only moves the cut sugar cane from a loading station toa discharging station, but also serves as an effective separator of thecane from unwanted material during the loading operation.

Another object of the invention is in general to provide an improvedsugar cane handling device.

While the sugar cane handling device can be embodied in a number ofdifferent ways pursuant to the invention, it has successfully beenincorporated as a transloader as described in the accompanyingdescription and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the loading end of a handling deviceconstructed pursuant to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the discharging end of a handling deviceconstructed in accordance with the invention, FIGURE 2 when placedalongside FIGURE 1 afiording a complete side elevation of the entiremachine;

FIGURE 3 is a plain of a portion of the incline frame portion of thesugar cane handling device, primarily illustrating certain combingrollers and drive mechanisms;

FIGURE 4 is a detail showing in transverse cross sec- ICC tion a portionof an anger mechanism, the plane of section being indicated by the line44 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a detailed plan to an enlarged scale of the upper, dischargeend of the conveyor with a portion of the discharge drum, other portionsof the surrounding structure being broken away to reduce the size of thefigure; and

FIGURE 6 is a cross section, the plane of which is indicated by the line6-6 of FIGURE 5.

In the particular form of sugar cane handling device chosen as anexample herein, there is provided a portable main frame 6 comprised ofstructural shapes and angles mounted on a plurality of ground-engagingwheels 7 and 8 so that the main frame is readily movable in a field 9 inwhich sugar cane is available. The main frame adjacent one end isconstructed to afford a transverse pivot shaft 11 to which is alsoconnected an incline frame 12, also made up of structural shapes andangles and extending forwardly over the main frame and extendingrearwardly over the main frame.

To drop the incline frame for moving the handling device and to mountthe incline frame at the desired or selected inclination on the mainframe for use, there is afforded a jack mechanism 13 at its lower endconnected pivotally to the main frame 6 and at its upper end connectedpivotally to the incline frame 12, the jack mechanism being expansibleand contractible under control of an operator by any suitable pressuremeans such as compressed air or hydraulic pressure. When there is nopressure, the incline frame is dropped and when pressure is applied, theincline frame is raised. So that it will not be necessary to maintainpressure on the jack 13 under all conditions, there is likewise mountedon the main frame 6 a stay 14 in the form of a strap connected at itslower end by a pivot 16 to the main frame and having a plurality ofapertures 17 therein. A holding device 18 on the incline frame 12 can beinserted through any one of the apertures. When the desired inclinationis established by rotating the incline frame 12 about the pivot shaft 11by operation of the jack 13, the inclination is held by posi tioning thefastening 18, following which the pressure within the jack can berelieved.

Adjacent its forward or leading end the incline frame is provided with apivot connection 21 to a hopper frame 22 made up of a plurality ofangles and shapes and designed to rock about the pivot connection 21under control of a jack mechanism 23. One end of the jack 23 isconnected to the incline frame by a pivot 24, whereas the other end ofthe jack is connected by a pivot 26 to the lower portion of the hopperframe. By appropriately manipulating the jack 23, the hopper frame canbe lifted or folded when the machine is to be moved. By operation of thejack 23, the frame can be disposed at the desired position with respectto the field 9. It is to be understood that various of the mechanisms,such as the jacks 13 and 23 and the stay 14, can be duplicated onopposite sides of the transloader.

The hopper frame 22 is provided with inclined sides 27 and an open topand supports the forward or leading end of a conveyor 28. The forwardsupport is in the nature of a tail shaft roll 29 supported on a crossshaft 31 appropriately journalled on the hopper frame 22. The conveyor28 is extensive, travelling not only through the hopper frame, but alsoon the incline frame 12, and extends around a head shaft roll 32 (FIGURE2) near the upper end of the incline frame. The tail shaft roll 29 andthe head shaft roll 32 are not necessarily but may be virtuallyidentical, substantially as illustrated in FIGURE 5. As an example, thehead shaft roll 32 includes a transverse shaft 33 mounted in appropriatejournal blocks 34 on the incline frame 12 and between the sides of theframe includes a roller 36. having transversely extending slots 37 and38 at spaced points around its generally circular periphery.

Mounted on the shaft 33 adjacent but somewhat spaced from the ends ofthe roll 36 is a pair of sprockets 39 and 41 (see FIGURE 3).Encompassing the portion of the shaft 33 between the roller 36 and thesprocket 39, for example, (see FIGURES and 6) is a free standing guardcollar 42 supported by a fore and aft bracket 43 bent transversely atits nether end to form an arm 44 secured to the frame 12. A second pairof guard collars 42a substantially span axially the gaps between thesprockets 39 and 41 and the adjacent journal blocks 34. As appears mostclearly in FIGURE 5, the collar 42a can be mounted on the journal block34 and extends axially toward but stops just short of the sprocket 39.The collars 42 and 42a, in other words do not interfere with therotation either of the roller 36 or the sprockets 39 and 41, but theyserve to shield these members.

The conveyor 28 trained around the rolls 29 and 32 includes a belt, forexample of rubberized fabric, at appropriate intervals carrying crossslats 46 secured to the fabric by fasteners 47. Projecting throughopenings 48 in the fabric at appropriate intervals are upstanding lugs49. The lugs have an upwardly and backwardly sloping forward face tomake sure the cane is cleanly released at discharge. The slats arespaced apart in such a fashion that they are readily received in theslots 37 and 38 as they round the respective rolls 29 and 36.

The cross slats 46 extend beyond the side edges of the rubberized fabricbelt and are secured to appropriate links in side chains 51 and 52trained around the sprockets 39 and 41 and orresponding sprockets of thelower roll 29. In this fashion, when the conveyor is driven, its upperrun progresses from a leading low point near the forward end of thehopper frame 22 upwardly on the incline frame and then returns in thelower run to the point of beginning. Since the belt is chain advanced,it moves smoothly to carry whatever load is imposed upon it, beingsupported by the guided side chains and engaging the lading by reason ofthe upwardly projecting lugs 49 and the friction of the belt surface.The conveyor feeds all of the material, of whatever degree of moisture,without backfeeding at the discharge end and operates well at a highenough speed to give satisfactory volume with only a shallow depth ofmaterial.

Since the conveyor extends from a generally horizontal attitude in thehopper frame to an inclined attitude on the incline frame, the lower runreturns around a roller 53 and the upper run advances around side guidewheels 54, the latter of which are protected by guards 56 secured to theincline frame.

Sugar cane, debris and accompanying material dumped onto the upper runof the conveyor in the hopper are carried upwardly on the incline frame.To make sure that the load on the upper run of the conveyor is notexcessively high and is laterally distributed, the incline frame atspaced intervals carries a pair of combing rollers 61 and 62 on crossshafts 63 and 64 disposed just above the upper run of the conveyor. Eachof the combing rollers or levelling drums includes a number ofprojecting teeth 66 arranged in reverse helixes symmetrical centrally ofthe rollers so that the combing rollers when operated serve to retardand to comb back the upstanding material on the conveyor andtransversely to distribute the material evenly on the conveyor. Theeffect is to provide a uniformly thick layer of material of ontrolleddepth carried upwardly by the upper run. The combing rollers orlevelling drums are set to leave a depth of material which can readilybe penetrated by an air blast to be later described. The elevation ofthe combing roller 61 is somewhat higher than that of the combing roller62 relative to the upper run of the belt, so that the combing anddistributing function is divided between the two rollers as a means ofmaintaining'a more uniform predetermined depth. Material passingupwardly beyond the upper comb 4 ing roller 62 travels around and overthe head shaft roller 32.

Disposed on the incline frame is a discharge drum 71 or fluffing drum.This is arranged on a cross shaft 72 mounted on the inclined frame byjournal blocks 73. The drum 71 is parallel to the discharge roller 32,but is spaced therefrom to leave a gap 74 therebetween. The dischargedrum is made up of a number of toothed disks 77 and 78 arranged in pairson the shaft 72 and between them supporting a number of cross bars 79 sothat the discharge drum is of an open work nature. Material travellingover the drum 71 in the nature of sugar cane stalks arrangedapproximately transversely may be engaged by the notches in the disks 77and 78 and is carried upwardly over the discharge drum and is impelledor thrown therefrom to fall into a receiving bin 81 disposed therebelow.Material is thrown from the discharge or fluffing drum in a scatteredmanner for maximum air exposure.

Some of the material on the upper run of the conveyor belt 28 is not inthe nature of sugar cane, but, for example, is in the nature of earth,small debris, rocks and trash of that sort. Such trash is not carriedacross to the discharge drum, but rather falls through the space '74 bygravity. If any trash is engaged with the discharge drum and is of smallenough compass, it falls through the openings in the discharge drum.This debris of a heavy, small nature is caught in a suitable transverseconveyor. One form of conveyor is an auger trough 82 suspended transversely across the incline frame. Within the auger trough (FlGURE 4) isdisposed an auger 83 having its shaft 84 extending parallel to thedischarge drum and to the trailing roll. The auger shaft 84substantially vertically below the gap 74 is in the path of fallingdebris. FIGURE 6 is inclined in the drawings so that the verticaldirection is represented by the line 86. The debris received in theauger trough 82 is carried laterally away from the machine to dischargeby the operating auger.

Some of the material carried by the conveyor and not discharging intothe auger trough and not in the nature of usable sugar cane is materialin the nature of heavy debris such as wet leaves, cane tops andcomparable trash. This is disposed of in another fashion. The inclineframe is extended and enlarged to support a hood 91 open generally atthe ends and bottom but closed at the top and sides. Situated on theincline frame at its rearward end and within the hood is a trash screen92. This preferably takes the form of a belt 93 trained around operatingrollers 94 and 96 mounted on the incline frame. The roll 96 isconveniently adjustable in mounting slots 97 so that the inclination ofthe trash screen can be varied.

Disposed on the incline frame is an air blower 98 having a damper plate99 movable over its inlet 101 to regulate the influx of air thereto. Theblower discharge 102 leads into an adjustable box 103 movable withrespect to the nozzle 102 and also carrying a plurality of jet tubes 104and 106 individual-1y adjustable as to inclination on the box. The tubes104 and 106 are so disposed as to direct an air current or air blastacross the gap existing between the discharge drum 71 and the trashscreen 92 in a generally upward direction and toward an outlet opening107 in the trailing end of the hood 91. Light debris does not fall withthe sugar cane but is blown across and through a gap above the trashscreen and is discharged. The heavier debris on the debris screen iscarried upwardly on the upper run thereof and is discharged over theroller 96 to fall by gravity while the light debris is blown out andfalls by gravity through the opening 107 away from the retained canesections in the receiver 81.

Some material, for example leaf trash with a portion of cane stalkattached, is not held against the trash screen and discharged over thetop thereof. Rather, the angle of the trash screen 92 is adjusted sothat such material rolls or tumbles back against the air blast and fallsinto the receiver 81. This arrangement substantially reduces the amountof trash and debris and minimizes the loss of valuable cane.

This mechanism is effective to receive sugar cane lengths and variousother debris and to carry such material to an upper location from whichit can be put into the receiver 81. Likewise, the mechanism serves as aseparator to remove clods, rocks and heavy small debris carried away bymeans of a suitable conveyor such as the auger. Also, by reason of theair blasts and the trash screen, the mechanism separates the lightmaterial such as leaves and comparable trash and discharges them at adifferent location.

In order that all of the instrumentalities of the transloader can beappropriately operated, there is mounted on the main frame 6 a primemover 111 such as an internal combustion engine which has one driverbelt 112 connected to the blower 98 to induce the air flow described.The prime mover also has a belt 113 connected to a pulley 114 on a shaft116 journalled on the incline frame. At its far end the shaft 116 has achain 117 connected to a cross drive shaft 118 through an overloadclutch 119. At its near end the cross drive shaft 118 has a chain 120driving the combing roller shaft 64. A drive chain 121 extends from thefar end of the combing roller shaft 64 to drive the lower combing rollershaft 63. The shaft 118 also has a chain 122 extending to a sprocket 123fast on the discharge drum shaft 33 and so driving that roller.

At its near end, the shaft 33 carries a sprocket 124 with a chainextending to a sprocket 126 (FIGURE 4) on the auger shaft 84 to drivethe auger. At its far end, the upper roller shaft 33 carries a pair ofsprockets 127 and 128. The sprocket 127 is connected by a chain to asprocket 129 (FIGURE 3) on the discharge drum shaft 72 to afford a drivefor that drum. The other sprocket 128 is connected by a chain 131 to adrive sprocket 132 on the shaft 133 of the lower roller 94 for the trashscreen. There is thus afforded from a central point a complete drivearrangement for all of the rotating devices on the struc ture, theconnections being such that the upper run of the conveyor 28 operatesfrom right to left as seen in FIG- URES 1 and 2, and so that the combingrollers 61 and 62 operate in a counterclockwise direction as seen inFIG- URES 1 and 2. The auger and the discharge drum likewise operate ina counterclockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 2, while the trash screenconveyor operates with its upper run travelling in an upper direction asseen in FIGURE 2.

With this structure, the entire device can readily be transported to anappropriate point in the field and sugar cane cut approximately tolength and with accompanying debris is dumped into the hopper. Theconveyor upper run advances the material both by means of the rubberizedfabric belt and by means of the upstanding lugs 49 in an upward andrearward direction, the combing rollers assisting in distributing thematerial and reducing its irregular height to a predetermined thicknesson the upper run. As the material advances over the discharge roll,heavy small debris such as rocks and clods falls through the primary gapinto the auger housing and is carried away laterally by the auger.Remaining material is passed over the discharge drum and tends to fallby gravity. The cut sugar cane lengths do fall into a subposed receiver81, but heavy material such as wet leaves and the like is blown by aplurality of air currents or by an air blast over the secondary gapbetween the discharge drum and the debris screen to lodge on that screenand to be carried by the debris screen upwardly to be discharged throughthe remote opening 107. Light debris is blown directly over the debrisscreen while some intermediate material such as leaves with caneattached falls back against the air blast into the receiver.

What is claimed is:

1. A sugar cane handling device comprising a portable main frame; anincline frame; means for pivotally mounting said incline frame on saidmain frame; means for sup porting said incline frame at a desired angleon said main frame; a hopper frame; means for pivotally mounting saidhopper frame on said incline frame; means for supporting said hopperframe at a desired attitude on said incline frame; a tail shaft roll onsaid hopper frame; a head shaft roll on said incline frame; a conveyorextending around said tail shaft roll and said head shaft roll foradvancing material supported thereon in a forward direction; 'a combingroller on said incline frame above said conveyor; a discharge drum onsaid incline frame spaced forwardly from said head shaft roll to leave anarrow primary gap therebetween affording gravity separation of unwantedmaterial smaller than the sugar cane diameter; an auger trough on saidincline frame beneath said primary gap to receive the smaller unwantedmaterial falling therethrough; .an anger in said auger trough; a trashscreen on said incline frame spaced forwardly from said discharge drumto leave a secondary gap therebetween; means on said incline frame fordirecting a blast of air through said secondary gap toward said trashscreen; and means on said incline frame for driving said conveyor, saidcombing rollers, said discharge drum and said auger.

2. A sugar cane handling device as in claim 1 in which said trash screenincludes a pair of rollers, a belt trained around said rollers and meansfor advancing said belt on said rollers.

3. A sugar cane handling device as in claim 2 in which a hood is mountedon said incline frame to overlie said secondary gap and said trashscreen.

4. A sugar cane handling device comprising a portable main frame, anincline frame, means for pivotally mounting said incline frame on saidmain frame, means for supporting said incline frame at a selectedinclination on said main frame, a conveyor on said incline frame andhaving a rearward receiving end and a forward discharge end, a dischargedrum rotatably mounted on said incline frame spaced forwardly from saiddischarge end to leave a narrow primary gap therebetween, said gap beingcapable of being bridged only by material of at least sugar cane size,an auger trough on said incline frame below said gap, an auger in saidauger trough, a trash screen on said incline frame spaced forwardly fromsaid discharge drum to leave a secondary gap between, and means on saidincline frame for directing a current of air from the vicinity of saiddischarge drum across said secondary gap and toward said trash screen.

5. A sugar cane handling device as in claim 4 in which said trash screenis in the form of a traveling member driven to discharge material overone end portion thereof.

6. A sugar cane handling device comprising an incline frame, a headshaft roll on said incline frame, a conveyor trained around said headshaft roll and adapted to advance and discharge material forwardlythereover, a discharge drum rotatably mounted on said incline frameparallel to and spaced forwardly from said head shaft roll to leave aprimary gap therebetween through which some of said mate-rial can fall,said primary gap being sufficiently narrow to be bridged by sugar cane,means on said incline frame beneath said gap for receiving and carryingaway said material falling through said primary gap, a pair of rollerson said incline frame parallel to said discharge roller and spacedforwardly therefrom to leave a secondary gap therebetween through whichsome of said material can fall, a belt trained around said rollers,means for directing an air blast across said secondary gap toward andabove said belt to blow some of said material thereon, and means fordriving said belt to discharge material therefrom.

7. A sugar cane handling device as in claim 6 in which said air blastdirecting means is movable to change the path of said air blast.

8. A sugar cane handling device .as in claim 6 in which said belt isdisposed at an inclination and is driven in a direction to dischargeover the upper end thereof.

7 9. A sugar cane handling device as in claim 7 in which means areprovided for changing the angle of inclination of said belt.

10. An apparatus for handling and separating a mixture of sugar cane andunwanted trash material, said apparatus comprising:

(a) an elongated incline frame including a lower, rearward, receivingend and an elevated, forward, discharge end;

(b) a head shaft roll on said incline frame;

(c) a conveyor trained around said head shaft roll driven to advance anddischarge the sugar cane and the trash material thereover;

(d) a discharge member rotatably and transversely mounted on saidincline frame, said discharge memher being spaced forwardly from saidhead shaft roll to provide a gap narrower than the diameter of the sugarcane to allow unwanted material smaller than said diameter to falltherethrough, said discharge member being effective to advance anddischarge sugar cane and comparably sized unwanted material;

(e) a trash screen on said incline frame spaced forwardly from saiddischarge member to afford an intervening space;

(f) blower means on said incline frame adjacent said discharge memberfor directing a current of air through the sugar can and comparablysized un- 8 Wanted material discharging from said discharge member andfalling through said intervening space, said blower means beingeffective to blow some of the unwanted material onto said trash screenand being ineffective to blow the sugar cane thereon.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 including a hood mounted on said inclineframe to overlie said intervening space and said trash screen, said hoodhaving a discharge end and said trash screen being movable to advancethe material blown thereon to discharge the same at said discharge endof said hood.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 including a combing drum rotatably mountedon said incline frame above said conveyor effective to distribute thesugar cane and attendant unwanted material advanced by said conveyor toform a substantially uniform layer of predetermined thickness on saidconveyor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 427,660 5/1890 Beach 209-308 X773,928 11/1904 Calvin 209ll5 2,324,754 7/1943 Barber 209154 2,395,0752/1946 Smith 198233.

FRANK W. LUTI'ER, Primary Examiner.

1. A SUGAR CANE HANDLING DEVICE COMPRISING A PORTABLE MAIN FRAME; ANINCLINE FRAME; MEANS FOR PIVOTALLY MOUNTING SAID INCLINE FRAME ON SAIDMAIN FRAME; MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID INCLINE FRAME AT A DESIRED ANGLEON SAID MAIN FRAME; A HOPPER FRAME; MEANS FOR PIVOTALLY MOUNTING SAIDHOPPER FRAME ON SAID INCLINE FRAME; MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID HOPPERFRAME AT A DESIRED ATTITUDE ON SAID INCLINE FRAME; A TAIL SHAFT ROLL ONSAID HOPPER FRAME; A HEAD SHAFT ROLL ON SAID INCLINE FRAME; A CONVEYOREXTENDING AROUND SAID TAIL SHAFT ROLL AND SAID HEAD SHAFT ROLL FORADVANCING MATERIAL SUPPORTED THEREON IN A FORWARD DIRECTION; A COMBINGROLLER ON SAID INCLINE FRAME ABOVE SAID CONVEYOR; A DISCHARGE DRUM ONSAID INCLINE FRAME SPACED FORWARDLY FROM SAID HEAD SHAFT ROLL TO LEAVE ANARROW PRIMARY GAP THEREBETWEEN AFFORDING GRAVITY SEPARATION OF UNWANTEDMATERIAL SMALLER THAN THE SUGAR CANE DIAMETER; AN AUGER TROUGH ON SAIDINCLINE FRAME BENEATH SAID PRIMARY GAP TO RECEIVE THE SMALLER UNWANTEDMATERIAL FALLING THERETHROUGH; AN AUGER IN SAID AUGER TROUGH; A TRASHSCREEN ON SAID INCLINE FRAME SPACED FORWARDLY FROM SAID DISCHARGE DRUMTO LEAVE A SECONDARY GAP THEREBETWEEN; MEANS ON SAID INCLINE FRAME FORDIRECTING A BLAST OR AIR THROUGH SAID SECONDARY GAP TOWARD SAID TRASHSCREEN; AND MEANS ON SAID INCLINE FRAME FOR DRIVING SAID CONVEYOR, SAIDCOMBING ROLLERS, SAID DISCHARGE DRUM AND SAID AUGER.